On December 31, 1657, the morning before the New Year, the Governor of Pimont, on behalf of the Timor colony of the Portuguese East India Company, signed a historic document with the Commonwealth of Australia---- the full name of which is called "Consensus reached in Macao between the Commonwealth of Australia and the Viceroyalty of the Portuguese East India Company Timor on Trade and Military Mutual Assistance", referred to as the "Macao Consensus".

There are four main contents:

First, the Australian Commonwealth will dispatch the Nicole and Pride to assist the Governor of Timorse in military operations other than land operations until the port of Dili is recovered.

Secondly, the two sides will carry out comprehensive economic and trade cooperation in the development of various undertakings under the Viceroyalty of Timor.

Cooperation can take a variety of forms, including the establishment of a joint stock investment company, a shipping and trading company, a joint-stock plantation and mining development company, in addition to allowing the Commonwealth of Australia to set up a wholly Australian company in Timor.

Third, the two sides will fully open up each other's trade in goods in ports under their control, with no quota restrictions and the most preferential tax rates for each other.

Fourth, the Australian Commonwealth will have a four-square-kilometer warehousing bonded area in the port area near the Port of Timor, in this area, the tax rate of goods entering Timor Island from the bonded area shall refer to Article 3, and Australia is responsible for the construction of the port and the security of the area, and the implementation of the laws of the Australian Commonwealth.

Fifth, both sides have the freedom to carry out missionary work and engage in various cultural exchange activities in each other's regions.

On the afternoon of December 31, Pimont, who had just signed the agreement, gathered his fleet and began preparations for the expedition to the island of Timor.

Today, Pimont has four large and small ships under his command, in addition to the Princess Casa, the Archangel and the Dawn, as well as the Red Bay of the Duchess Margaret, the latter two of which are small and strengthened galleons.

According to the agreement with the Australian Commonwealth, the Nicole and Pride will also join the fleet attacking Timor Island after the trade is completed.

According to the plan, the fleet will first sail to Ambon, where Degus, a sandalwood merchant from the Portuguese port of Dili, will also take part in the expedition, and his four medium-sized caravel galleons will be joined by him.

By that time, in addition to the Nicole and Pride, the fleet would have eight wooden ships carrying six hundred pikemen and more than four hundred musketeers.

After the arrival of the Australians, in just a few days, Pimont's army was rapidly expanded, apparently, this is because Pimont suddenly received the endorsement of the Australians, and the arrival of the Australians made Pimont's credit value rise rapidly.

Pimont's newly expanded contingent was complex, ethnically including Han Chinese, Europeans, Arabs, Japanese ronin, and Annamite.

On the way they came, there were sailors from all over the world, down-and-out merchants who had fled to Macao, displaced people who had fled to Macao due to the war in the mainland, and poor Portuguese mestizos and unemployed Han Chinese living in Macao.

There were even stragglers from the former Ming army, who had fled to Macao to make a living after losing the battle against the Qing army some time ago, and the former pirates who had washed their hands and gone ashore, most of whom were forced to join the army again in search of a new way out because they had squandered all the looted property.

Therefore, on the whole, these people still have individual combat effectiveness, but, everyone, including Pimont, knows that this is a rabble, and if the war is unfavorable, these people will flee and retreat faster than anyone else.

Although the composition of the personnel is complex, the morale of this rabble is quite good as it stands.

First of all, Pimont had promised that once the rebels in Dili Harbor had been expelled and the civil strife on the island had been quelled, a large area of land on the outskirts of Dili City, including the rice fields, sandalwood groves, and banana plantations of the rebel tribes, would be distributed to these soldiers, and those who had made outstanding achievements in battle would receive additional rewards.

Moreover, Pimont solemnly promised that, in addition to real estate, land, and houses, all the floating wealth and the male and female population of the rebel tribes would be distributed to the warriors as spoils of war.

It is said that these tribes were quite wealthy and there were many young women, so the Portuguese, Han Chinese, and Annamite who heard the news also joined in.

Not to mention these tempting promises, the mere fact that each soldier will receive an additional Mexican silver dollar a week is enough to tempt many people.

Of course, the most important thing is to have the support of Australians.

The sailors of the Casa Princess, the Dawn and the Red Bay had seen the sharp firearms of the Australians, and to outsiders, the self-confidence of these sailors was simply unreasonable, but the sailors on these ships were so confident that they also infected other soldiers who did not know the truth.

Piedmont is indeed wealthy today, and an important reason is that he participated in the whole process of the Australian trade with Macao, and at the same time received the full support of the Duchess Margaret, although the Duchess of Margaret provided a lot of supplies and military pay for Pimont's fleet, and spent a lot of money, but she is now richer than in the past.

Because under Sun Lao's arrangement, the glassware trade on the Pride also gave her a hand, and Sun Lao's share of the goods to the duchess made her a lot of money.

And now, she doesn't leave the house at all---- almost never leaves Nicole, people can see the beautiful figure of the duchess on the deck from time to time, the beautiful woman with a small umbrella, looking at the top of the cockpit, the man next to her is Sun Lao, someone saw the Duchess take the initiative to hold Sun Lao's arm and whisper there.

Corresponding to this is the almost public love affair between Miss Zezilia and Hou Xianglin, and it is clear that the people on the Nicole are sincerely wishing the relationship between the two pairs.

Her Duchess's Red Bay sailors were unconcerned about the fact that Her Excellency had been on the Nicole like this, believing that women could not stay on ships about to sail in the first place---- as would bring bad luck, as evidenced by the pirate robbery in the Sulu Sea.

Considering the morale of an army that is about to go to sea to fight, it is really better not to have women on those ships, and as for why the Australians do not have women on their ships, it is artificially and selectively ignored, because the magical Australians do not have these taboos.

So Her Excellency Duchess Margaret stayed on the Nicole for a long time, and she told Sun Lao that the ships were stinking, and the crew was rude and superstitious, and she and Zezilia were reluctant to deal with those people, and it was clear that Hou Xianglin had played a role in making such a decision to the women.

Hou Xianglin was full of joy at the Duchess's decision, and he was very happy to see his beloved sister every day.

Zeji Liya is a lively and lovely girl, with some natural and cute attributes, and has a plump body unique to Dutch women, although the girl is only fifteen years old, but the youthful atmosphere exuded by the girl has long made Brother Hou unable to help herself.

Now everyone on the ship knows that the relationship between the two is not ordinary, well, not only unusual, from after dinner to before blackjack, the people on the Nicole generally do not go to two places if there is no need - the cockpit top deck and the bottom deck of the cargo hold, the place in front usually has Her Excellency the Duchess and Sun Lao chatting watching the sunset, the two are very close, from a certain angle, the figures of the two in the sunset sometimes merge into one, the scene is very romantic, people can't bear to disturb.

The cargo deck was quiet and noisy, and the sound coming from inside was embarrassing to interrupt......